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Friday, November 2, 2012

Tissue Paper Jars

Before Halloween, I saw a very cute idea for decorating pumpkins over on Young House Love. They cut tissue paper circles and adhered them to the pumpkin with Modge Podge. As I spent a few storm-induced days trying to entertain my kids and delay having to carve our pumpkins, I urged them to try the idea. No one but me was interested.

When I was cleaning the kitchen after some empty-the-freezer-in-case-we-lose-power-inspired baking, I had a similar idea that sold--tissue paper jars.

I should briefly mention that, until now, I had no idea what Modge Podge was or why one would want to use it. I had seen a recipe for homemade Modge Podge online, which seemed an easy way to try it. The complex recipe: one part white glue, one part water. Put in jar and shake.

I handed the kids a stack of Dollar Tree tissue paper I keep on hand for wrapping gifts and told them to cut small pieces. Once that was done, I painted some Modge Podge on a washed empty glass jar (I didn't trust them with a gaping jar of liquid glue). They stuck on the pieces in their own design, and I put a coat of Modge Podge over it to shellac the whole thing.

One kid carefully put all the pieces on flat. The other sort of globbed handfuls onto the jar. Surprisingly, both worked. The final coat of Modge Podge flattened out the bumps and affixed the clumped paper to the jar, resulting in a more textured effect for the globbing approach.

The kids are still debating what treasures they want to store in their jars, but I think they looked beautiful as candle holders or used as nightlights. Here, I have a battery-powered faux tea light in each.

So, crafty friends, what else do I want to do with my jar of homemade Modge Podge?